Field
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to animation display by an image processing apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Some recent multifunctional image forming apparatuses display a list of, for example, button icons representing functions provided by the multifunctional image forming apparatus, and enable a user to select a desired function from among such button icons. A screen displaying the functions to the user and enabling the user to select a function is referred to as a menu screen. The menu screen is displayed when the button dedicated to calling the menu screen is pressed or when the image forming apparatus is activated.
When the button on the menu screen is pressed, the image forming apparatus performs a process for changing the display to a functional screen corresponding to the pressed button while animating the displayed menu screen. The animation displayed when the screen is changed is referred to as transition animation.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-52403 discusses a display device that, when screens are changed, changes the display content while adding various effects according to a change instruction. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-52403, a user can easily recognize changing of the screens because the change in display content is accompanied by the effects. By displaying the transition animation when the screens are changed, a more sophisticated user interface is provided to the user. Even if it takes time to display the screen of the selected function, the user can feel as if the waiting time is short because the transition animation is displayed as soon as the button on the menu screen is pressed.
In an image forming apparatus such as an MFP, the time after the power is turned on and before any of image forming functions (such as a copying function) is enabled is referred to as a warm-up time. Some image forming apparatuses such as the MFP require a warm-up time of approximately 30 seconds after the power is turned on, for energization, initialization, and activation of each functional part. The warm-up time is strongly required to be shorter.
Since the aforementioned image forming apparatuses perform the process for displaying the transition animation, however, the warm-up time may become longer.